A prime number is an odd number in a number series, that is, a number that can only be divided by itself and by 1.

The first ones were 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29 and 31. After that, they appeared at irregular intervals as far as one could imagine. And a little more.

There is no end point for a regular number series. Wherever you stop, you can imagine even bigger numbers.

The same thing happens with prime numbers. The numbers are infinite and can become very large. However, there is competition in identifying the largest possible prime number.

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Almost 25 million digits

Computer networks around the world are constantly working to identify new prime numbers. In the middle of the Christmas season, computers in Ocala, Florida, are full.

The number starts like this: 1488944457420413255478064584723979166030262739927953241852712894252132393610644753103099711321803371

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And it ends like this: 1595208807192693676521782184472526640076912114355308311969487633766457823695074037951210325217902591

But between the first 100 and the last 100 there are almost 25 million digits, more precisely 24861848.

That’s enough to fill over 7,000 A4 pages if you write in 12 point Times New Roman.

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Code name “M82589933”

The old record was less than a year old and consisted of prime numbers with “only” 23 million digits.

Mathematicians call the newcomer from Florida M82589933. That’s because you have to multiply 2 by itself 82589933 times and then subtract 1 to get the whole number.

You can download the record-breaking prime numbers yourself at Mersenne.org.

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(This article was first published on forskning.no)